iTronics ThermoPro TP16 Review

If you don't want to break the bank when you roast your bird, iTronics' ThermoPro TP16 Food Thermometer is your best choice. Of all the corded digital thermometers under $30, the ThermoPro TP16 offers the most reliable features and best customer service.

How Does It Work?

The ThermoPro TP16 tries to keep up with more expensive models' features with less buttons. On the back, you have a sliding switch for Celsius and Fahrenheit and another sliding switch for the timer screen, temperature screen, and the off button. On top you have three buttons: "MEM/S/S," up/hour, down/minutes.

Setting a Timer

Move the back switch to the clock illustration. The hour and minute buttons only count upwards, but cycle back around to zero if you hold the buttons down. The hours max out at 99 while the minutes reset after 59. You can also turn the display on and off again to zero out the timer.

"Common USDA meat temperatures are programmed into the display and doneness levels are printed on the side."

Once you have your desired countdown, you can press "MEM/S/S" to start and stop the timer. The colon will flash to show the timer is running. When you switch to the temperature screen, a small, blinking triangle at the top of the screen lets you know the timer is still activated.

Setting a Temperature

Move the switch to the thermometer illustration. If you want to set your own temperature, just press the up and down buttons until you find your "Set Temp."

If you need a little help, press the "MEM/S/S" button to see the illustrations of different animals. Each animal will blink to show it's selected and you can use the arrow buttons to move between the different illustrations. Pressing "MEM/S/S" button again will select the animal and set the temperature to the USDA guideline.

When either alarm is reached, turn the the display completely off and on again to stop it.

What Works?

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Common USDA meat temperatures are programmed into the display and doneness levels are printed on the side.

The braided stainless steel probe cable is heat-safe up to 712°F is a major upgrade to the silicone cables usually found on thermometers under $30.

Though on a separate screen, the timer function runs concurrently with your temperature alarm. This might seem silly, but people who don't want a cluttered display will enjoy the simplicity of the different modes.

Since probes tend to fail over time, iTronics offers a lifetime free probe replacement warranty in addition to a five-year warranty for the other parts. Backup probes are also easy to find on Amazon.

There are three different ways to position the display: magnet for the oven, kickstand for the counter, and wall mounting via a screw or nail.

What Could Be Better?

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When it comes to build quality, you get what you pay for. The display is reminiscent of a cheap calculator, hard plastic buttons and all. The battery compartment cover on the unit we received couldn't snap into place due to a defect. The quality control sticker above it felt like it was taunting us a bit, but the issue wasn't anything a customer service rep couldn't replace.

Because the temperature, timer, and off functions are controlled by the same sliding switch, you will probably turn the thermometer off when trying to look at your timer. The bad news: if you turn it off, you lose both the timer and your temperature alarm. The good news: once you set the timer, we found that switching screens wasn't a big deal.

Warranty and Customer Support

Some people have issues finding customer support for this product since the manufacturer is iTronics and ThermoPro is just a line of their products. Once we found iTronics, they were friendly and responsive about their 30-day return policy. With a five-year warranty and lifetime probe replacement, you wouldn't have to worry about buying another meat thermometer for years.